Page 18
Story: Darik's Quest
Darik watched her and as she came down from the orgasm, breathing hard, he moved so the tip of his cock was pressed to her folds. “I missed you so much while I was gone. I had the mate bond but it wasn’t active the way it is here, now.” Slowly he moved his hips and sank into her an inch at a time.
“I was so scared for you,” she said, clutching at his shoulders and shifting her body to pull him deeper. “Sitting by the bed all day and night, wondering if you’d ever wake up and if you did what state you’d be in.”
“You’re so tight on me right now, I love it.” He thrust harder and sheathed himself in her folds until he bottomed out. Then he pounded in and out, his face set in determined lines as he sought their mutual release.
Nicolle scratched his back, avoiding the ridged scars he bore as a result of their fight with the neoChimmer a long time ago and wrapped her legs around him to hold him closer. She welcomed his passion and the strength of his lovemaking. Darik wouldn’t hurt her and the ride was a wild one, every bit as passionate as the first times they made love, after escaping the Khagrish lab and being stuck in a small tent in a blizzard together. The mate bond pulsed and glittered in her mind’s eye and she sent fragments of her emotions through the golden links to him like small kisses. They were both sweaty now and approaching the climax. She lowered her head and licked the golden mate mark on his shoulder, savoring the warm salty taste of her mate’s skin. Perhaps the Badari blood she’d been transfused with had made her more of a predator herself than she’d realized but the fact she’d marked him and claimed him was incredibly arousing. He was hers and she wasn’t going to allow their bond to fray again.
She must have said it out loud, or maybe it traveled the mate bond, because Darik lifted his head and said, “Mine,” in a voice she hardly recognized before biting down carefully on her mate mark. The area was sensitive and the stimulus catapulted her into a mind-blowing release. Darik came with her, his entire body tight with the effort to give her satisfaction and claim his own.
She was screaming his name and he was grunting hers in a growl and it was one of the best moments she’d ever had in her life.
After the waves of sensation passed, Nicole lay exhausted in his arms and they kissed with gentleness. “I love you,” she whispered. “I never forgot that but I was in so much pain I buried myself in my work to try to escape and I shut you out. And then when each month passed and we didn’t make a baby, I got depressed and angry. But I needed to lean on you, not push you away.”
“I love you,” he answered. “I didn’t know how to reach you and I didn’t know what to do with my own sorrow and frustration so I did what Badari do, which is pushed it all inside, into a compartment in my head. The only trouble was I locked our love in there too. Or at least blocked it.”
“The mate bond tried to help us,” she said. “But it got so frayed—we have to take care of it now, nourish it with our love. No more hiding from each other, no more trying to be brave and unaffected. If I’m sad, you’re going to hear about it. And promise me if you’re any kind of emotional, you’ll tell me.”
“I promise, on my honor as a Badari Warrior.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Maybe we should seal this agreement with round two.”
Nicolle was more than willing and she knew how fast Darik recovered. “Sounds perfect to me?—”
A wail came through the baby monitor com and both of them jumped from the bed, Nicolle yanking on Darik’s big tee shirt while he struggled into his pants and they ran to Mia’s room next door in the residence cave. She was wide awake and fussy but quieted as they came into her line of sight, before her little face screwed up into another howl.
Darik picked her up. “She’s wet.”
He carried Mia to the changing table and together they cleaned her up and dressed her in a new diaper and sleeper.
“Let’s take her into our bed, just for tonight,” Nicolle said as he was about to put her into the crib. “I know we have to be so careful with the baby in the same bed, not to roll on her but I’d like us to be together tonight.”
“She slept perfectly fine on my chest while we were on her planet,” he said. “My beast won’t let any harm come to her. Nothing would make me happier than to sleep as a family this one time.”
Hand in hand, with Mia securely in Darik’s grasp, they walked to their room and curled up on the bed. Darik put his arm around Nicolle, holding the baby against his chest and pulled her close. “I couldn’t ask for more than this, my woman and my child, all safe and secure. I’m thanking the Great Mother for her grace in allowing me to find each of you at the right time in my life.”
Nicolle cuddled up to him, enjoying his Badari body heat. “The same for me. We’re a family now. I feel blessed.”
He laughed. “Even if she did interrupt the evening we were having.”
“That’s what babies do, or so they tell me. We have a lot to learn about parenting.” Nicole shared his mirth and the baby stirred, making a mewling sound like a kitten. Finger to her lips, Nicolle shushed her mate before closing her eyes.
“We’ll do it together,” he whispered. “Always.”
Epilogue
Two days later Darik stood on the platform at the great stone circle again. This time every Badari Warrior and claimed mate in Sanctuary Valley was assembled in front of him, including the cadets and cubs. For the first time ever Aydarr had entrusted the task of patrolling the perimeters and the key points within the valley to their most trusted human allies for the duration of this meeting. The Supreme Alpha deemed it as so important to have all Badari hear of Darik’s trip the ancestors’ world and time that he was willing to take the risk.
Tratus, his mate and his healer had flown from their hidden base in the vast wastelands. His enforcer Rayce was already in the valley on rotation and was in the audience. Darik had agreed to go to the Tzibir base in the near future and give his talk again but for now Tratus and his companions would share the news with their people,
MARL the ancient alien AI was present, floating next to Jill in his usual spot. He’d been at Darik’s first oration so there was no reason to ban him now.
Nicolle was seated on the steps close to Darik, holding Mia, who would be presented to the packs at the appropriate moment. There was fierce speculation in the valley about the new baby after word spread that someone had needed formula and a baby had been seen at the hospital. The humans in the valley would receive a vaguely worded announcement tomorrow simply stating Darik and his mate Nicolle had welcomed a daughter. Badari secrets were held close by the packs.
Hope sat with Nicolle and had promised to be on her best behavior. The three-year-old was fascinated by the baby and Mia was equally taken by her so the parents had decided it would be a good idea to let them get through this adult meeting together. Darik wasn’t going to censor himself for the children so Nicolle and Megan planned to take them out of the circle when he got to the part about how he found Mia in her deserted home.
Aydarr stepped onto the platform and the crowd hushed. “Darik is going to tell you his story tonight, much as he told it to me and his own Alpha the night he returned from his quest. He carries an important message from the Great Mother for all of us and through her grace he accomplished something which will benefit the packs going forward. It’s a marvelous tale, nearly unbelievable but he bears the scar he earned there and he was blessed by the goddess to be able to save one of the ancient ones from the fate their world was to suffer.” He clapped Darik on the shoulder and stepped aside. “The floor is all yours.”
Clad in his kilt and cloak which the goddess had given him to wear on his quest, he moved to the edge of the platform. He thought the garb was a bit on the theatrical side, especially facing an audience of his brothers and their mates dressed for the most part in camo pants and black tee shirts as he would have normally been but Aydarr had insisted the packs must hear the story in exactly the same way he’d told it the first time, right down to the clothes the goddess had provided. Darik cleared his throat and began. “I stole a flyer and made my way to the Great Mother’s grove, determined to obtain her help on a matter dear to my heart…”
As the words poured from him, telling of his adventures and his observations, he sent a prayer of thanks to the goddess for allowing him to return home to his mate and his pack, and to bring his daughter of the heart to safety here. If he lived to be centuries old he’d probably never again achieve anything close to the successful completion of this quest. He’d been blessed to secure a working spaceship for the packs as a result of meeting Nicolle and battling the neoChimmer for their lives. The accomplishment was critical, since it allowed Reede to go to the Sectors to ask for help. Truly Darik was a man in the right place at the right time more than once but this trip to the planet of the ancestors and acquiring the means to ensure the continuation of the Badari people had no parallel. Everything paled in comparison.
Watching the faces of those to whom he spoke, Darik felt a mix of pride and gratitude for what the Badari had become and to be a part of this group of people at this pivotal time in their evolving history.
The Alphas would make sure his words rekindled an even greater fire in the packs to carry the war to the Khagrish and resolve the ownership of this planet once and for all, as the goddess had hoped. And more children would be born, to the joy of all and the securing of a hopeful future once the war was over.
Not a bad legacy for a man to have achieved. Darik had a lot of living left to do and he hoped to be fathering several children with Nicolle in the years ahead but right now in this moment as he laid out his observations and his adventures on the ancestors’ planet, he felt if he had to step into the Afterlife right now, he could take satisfaction in what he’d been able to do for his people during his life.
What more could a Badari Warrior hope for?
With rare contentment he continued his tale, as he had told it once already and would no doubt be telling it many times in the future, always with gratitude to the goddess and amazement at his good fortune in being the one chosen to undertake the quest and succeed.
With his family by his side, Darik was content.
“I was so scared for you,” she said, clutching at his shoulders and shifting her body to pull him deeper. “Sitting by the bed all day and night, wondering if you’d ever wake up and if you did what state you’d be in.”
“You’re so tight on me right now, I love it.” He thrust harder and sheathed himself in her folds until he bottomed out. Then he pounded in and out, his face set in determined lines as he sought their mutual release.
Nicolle scratched his back, avoiding the ridged scars he bore as a result of their fight with the neoChimmer a long time ago and wrapped her legs around him to hold him closer. She welcomed his passion and the strength of his lovemaking. Darik wouldn’t hurt her and the ride was a wild one, every bit as passionate as the first times they made love, after escaping the Khagrish lab and being stuck in a small tent in a blizzard together. The mate bond pulsed and glittered in her mind’s eye and she sent fragments of her emotions through the golden links to him like small kisses. They were both sweaty now and approaching the climax. She lowered her head and licked the golden mate mark on his shoulder, savoring the warm salty taste of her mate’s skin. Perhaps the Badari blood she’d been transfused with had made her more of a predator herself than she’d realized but the fact she’d marked him and claimed him was incredibly arousing. He was hers and she wasn’t going to allow their bond to fray again.
She must have said it out loud, or maybe it traveled the mate bond, because Darik lifted his head and said, “Mine,” in a voice she hardly recognized before biting down carefully on her mate mark. The area was sensitive and the stimulus catapulted her into a mind-blowing release. Darik came with her, his entire body tight with the effort to give her satisfaction and claim his own.
She was screaming his name and he was grunting hers in a growl and it was one of the best moments she’d ever had in her life.
After the waves of sensation passed, Nicole lay exhausted in his arms and they kissed with gentleness. “I love you,” she whispered. “I never forgot that but I was in so much pain I buried myself in my work to try to escape and I shut you out. And then when each month passed and we didn’t make a baby, I got depressed and angry. But I needed to lean on you, not push you away.”
“I love you,” he answered. “I didn’t know how to reach you and I didn’t know what to do with my own sorrow and frustration so I did what Badari do, which is pushed it all inside, into a compartment in my head. The only trouble was I locked our love in there too. Or at least blocked it.”
“The mate bond tried to help us,” she said. “But it got so frayed—we have to take care of it now, nourish it with our love. No more hiding from each other, no more trying to be brave and unaffected. If I’m sad, you’re going to hear about it. And promise me if you’re any kind of emotional, you’ll tell me.”
“I promise, on my honor as a Badari Warrior.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Maybe we should seal this agreement with round two.”
Nicolle was more than willing and she knew how fast Darik recovered. “Sounds perfect to me?—”
A wail came through the baby monitor com and both of them jumped from the bed, Nicolle yanking on Darik’s big tee shirt while he struggled into his pants and they ran to Mia’s room next door in the residence cave. She was wide awake and fussy but quieted as they came into her line of sight, before her little face screwed up into another howl.
Darik picked her up. “She’s wet.”
He carried Mia to the changing table and together they cleaned her up and dressed her in a new diaper and sleeper.
“Let’s take her into our bed, just for tonight,” Nicolle said as he was about to put her into the crib. “I know we have to be so careful with the baby in the same bed, not to roll on her but I’d like us to be together tonight.”
“She slept perfectly fine on my chest while we were on her planet,” he said. “My beast won’t let any harm come to her. Nothing would make me happier than to sleep as a family this one time.”
Hand in hand, with Mia securely in Darik’s grasp, they walked to their room and curled up on the bed. Darik put his arm around Nicolle, holding the baby against his chest and pulled her close. “I couldn’t ask for more than this, my woman and my child, all safe and secure. I’m thanking the Great Mother for her grace in allowing me to find each of you at the right time in my life.”
Nicolle cuddled up to him, enjoying his Badari body heat. “The same for me. We’re a family now. I feel blessed.”
He laughed. “Even if she did interrupt the evening we were having.”
“That’s what babies do, or so they tell me. We have a lot to learn about parenting.” Nicole shared his mirth and the baby stirred, making a mewling sound like a kitten. Finger to her lips, Nicolle shushed her mate before closing her eyes.
“We’ll do it together,” he whispered. “Always.”
Epilogue
Two days later Darik stood on the platform at the great stone circle again. This time every Badari Warrior and claimed mate in Sanctuary Valley was assembled in front of him, including the cadets and cubs. For the first time ever Aydarr had entrusted the task of patrolling the perimeters and the key points within the valley to their most trusted human allies for the duration of this meeting. The Supreme Alpha deemed it as so important to have all Badari hear of Darik’s trip the ancestors’ world and time that he was willing to take the risk.
Tratus, his mate and his healer had flown from their hidden base in the vast wastelands. His enforcer Rayce was already in the valley on rotation and was in the audience. Darik had agreed to go to the Tzibir base in the near future and give his talk again but for now Tratus and his companions would share the news with their people,
MARL the ancient alien AI was present, floating next to Jill in his usual spot. He’d been at Darik’s first oration so there was no reason to ban him now.
Nicolle was seated on the steps close to Darik, holding Mia, who would be presented to the packs at the appropriate moment. There was fierce speculation in the valley about the new baby after word spread that someone had needed formula and a baby had been seen at the hospital. The humans in the valley would receive a vaguely worded announcement tomorrow simply stating Darik and his mate Nicolle had welcomed a daughter. Badari secrets were held close by the packs.
Hope sat with Nicolle and had promised to be on her best behavior. The three-year-old was fascinated by the baby and Mia was equally taken by her so the parents had decided it would be a good idea to let them get through this adult meeting together. Darik wasn’t going to censor himself for the children so Nicolle and Megan planned to take them out of the circle when he got to the part about how he found Mia in her deserted home.
Aydarr stepped onto the platform and the crowd hushed. “Darik is going to tell you his story tonight, much as he told it to me and his own Alpha the night he returned from his quest. He carries an important message from the Great Mother for all of us and through her grace he accomplished something which will benefit the packs going forward. It’s a marvelous tale, nearly unbelievable but he bears the scar he earned there and he was blessed by the goddess to be able to save one of the ancient ones from the fate their world was to suffer.” He clapped Darik on the shoulder and stepped aside. “The floor is all yours.”
Clad in his kilt and cloak which the goddess had given him to wear on his quest, he moved to the edge of the platform. He thought the garb was a bit on the theatrical side, especially facing an audience of his brothers and their mates dressed for the most part in camo pants and black tee shirts as he would have normally been but Aydarr had insisted the packs must hear the story in exactly the same way he’d told it the first time, right down to the clothes the goddess had provided. Darik cleared his throat and began. “I stole a flyer and made my way to the Great Mother’s grove, determined to obtain her help on a matter dear to my heart…”
As the words poured from him, telling of his adventures and his observations, he sent a prayer of thanks to the goddess for allowing him to return home to his mate and his pack, and to bring his daughter of the heart to safety here. If he lived to be centuries old he’d probably never again achieve anything close to the successful completion of this quest. He’d been blessed to secure a working spaceship for the packs as a result of meeting Nicolle and battling the neoChimmer for their lives. The accomplishment was critical, since it allowed Reede to go to the Sectors to ask for help. Truly Darik was a man in the right place at the right time more than once but this trip to the planet of the ancestors and acquiring the means to ensure the continuation of the Badari people had no parallel. Everything paled in comparison.
Watching the faces of those to whom he spoke, Darik felt a mix of pride and gratitude for what the Badari had become and to be a part of this group of people at this pivotal time in their evolving history.
The Alphas would make sure his words rekindled an even greater fire in the packs to carry the war to the Khagrish and resolve the ownership of this planet once and for all, as the goddess had hoped. And more children would be born, to the joy of all and the securing of a hopeful future once the war was over.
Not a bad legacy for a man to have achieved. Darik had a lot of living left to do and he hoped to be fathering several children with Nicolle in the years ahead but right now in this moment as he laid out his observations and his adventures on the ancestors’ planet, he felt if he had to step into the Afterlife right now, he could take satisfaction in what he’d been able to do for his people during his life.
What more could a Badari Warrior hope for?
With rare contentment he continued his tale, as he had told it once already and would no doubt be telling it many times in the future, always with gratitude to the goddess and amazement at his good fortune in being the one chosen to undertake the quest and succeed.
With his family by his side, Darik was content.